Rangers ended their run of three games without a win with a dominant 4-0 victory against Dundee at Ibrox on Saturday.
The result puts them second in the Scottish Premiership on goal difference with just five games remaining before the end of the season, all of which will be against the other top six sides.
Four different goalscorers – Kenny Miller, Alfredo Morelos, Jamie Murphy and Daniel Candeias – combined to delight supporters, who have had to endure under par performances of late.
With Dundee securing a 0-0 result mid-week against Celtic, they threatened going to be a tough nut to crack.
Jamie Murphy drew most of the plaudits from fans for his performance, setting up Miller before scoring the third goal of the afternoon himself.
It was his fifth goal and seventh assist since joining the club on loan in January and many supporters now believe he is one of, if not the best, player in the entire division.
Can the Light Blues bring him to the club permanently this summer?
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts on his Dundee display…
Daniel Sturridge’s imminent return to the Liverpool starting eleven could not come at a better time for the club.
The England striker has been out injured with a thigh problem since August and he could be in line to feature against West Ham at Anfield on Saturday.
The 25-year-old has suffered a number of setbacks that have prevented him from recovering in quicker time this season. Now he is fit, though, Rodgers will be desperate to get him back into a side that has struggled to score goals without him. The strike- force of Mario Balotelli, Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini have been below par so far this term, with Rodgers often opting to play Raheem Sterling in a centre-forward position instead.
Sturridge will need time to get back to his goalscoring best, but his presence in the team is a timely addition for the club. His return sees the potential for Sterling and Sturridge to revive a partnership that was very impressive last season. They share an excellent understanding with each other and can be a nightmare for opposition defences due to their pace and movement, stretching the opposition regularly.
[ad_pod id=’football-friends’ align=’center’]
Liverpool have looked very bare up front in Sturridge’s absence, but Rodgers has done well to grind out results in the league. Liverpool haven’t lost in six Premier League games and they have kept a clean sheet in their last two. There seems to be an assured solidarity about Liverpool at the moment, something that wasn’t particularly existent last year, despite their push for the title. If the club can keep a stern defensive approach while still accommodating the attacking talent of Sturridge, Liverpool will feel there’s an opportunity for the club to really challenge for the top four.
Rodgers stated that a top four finish would be the aim at the start of the season and, although that particular target looked bleak a couple of months ago, Sturridge’s return will inject some regained hope into the side.
As Liverpool face a congested run of fixtures in the League Cup, FA Cup, the Premier League and Europa League, they are going to need as many squad options as possible. Sturridge won’t be able to play every game but he is a key player that will add extra attacking quality to a squad that really needs his goals at the moment. His partnership with Raheem Sterling is dangerous, and Sturridge impressed in a lone role up front last season when Luis Suarez didn’t play. Although, despite Sturridge’s ability to play up front on his own, Rodgers will be looking to see whether a potential new partnership between his strikers could result in a similar threat as last season.
Sturridge and Balotelli played together in arguably Liverpool’s most impressive performance this season, beating Tottenham 3-0 at White Hart Lane. But it is not even slightly guaranteed, Sturridge’s presence up front could get the best out of a faltering Balotelli by creating more space for the Italian.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
One thing is for sure, Sturridge’s return will mean that Liverpool will pose a greater threat in attack, something that Brendan Rodgers has desperately needed so far this season.
Tottenham forward Emmanuel Adebayor’s decision to represent Togo at this month’s African Cup of Nations in South Africa, reversing his previous position in the process, would appear on the face of it to have dealt a hammer blow to manager Andre Villas-Boas at what represents a pivotal part of their campaign. With that in mind, does the squad have the necessary attacking depth to survive the month-long competition as they are, or should they dip their toes into the January transfer market for a replacement?
The move from the 28-year-old was a surprising one considering his near-death experience while representing his country in the past, which saw three team officials shot dead during the 2010 tournament in Angola. Having retired after the shocking attack, he returned to the national team set-up after guarantees were made about security in November 2011, but seemed reluctant to go to the ACN this month to try and force his way into the Tottenham starting XI after a disrupted few months at club level.
The club currently sit in the top four, three points ahead of Everton in fifth place, with the tournament starting over in Africa on the 19th January, ending with the final on the 10th February. Togo are in Group D which on paper looks the most difficult, including the Ivory Coast, Tunisia and Algeria, with the final group game taking place on January 30th.
Should Togo exit at the group stages, which they are broadly expected to do by many observers with a greater appreciation of African football than myself, then Tottenham will have played just three games, against Manchester United and Norwich in the league and an FA Cup fourth round tie against either Leeds or Birmingham. The travel commitments and lack of planning would also likely see him miss the next league game at home to West Brom on the 3rd February. Should Togo progress further than the quarter-finals to the semi-finals, which take place on the 6th February, he will then likely miss the home league game against Newcastle.
It’s worth taking a closer look at the fixtures themselves before letting panic set in. Adebayor is likely to miss three league games and one cup game, two of which are at home and three of which they are expected to win, regardless of his presence. The only game they may miss him for is the first one at home to United.
The argument put forth that this leaves the squad with just a solitary striker in the form of Jermain Defoe is a sound one, but Adebayor’s decision to go to the ACN has not particularly hastened the need for recruitment in the attacking department; they would be wise to add someone to their squad over the course of the next month, but not solely because Adebayor will at a push, miss five games.
Villas-Boas appeared to rule out bringing in a fresh face last week, telling reporters: “I don’t think so. We have been pretty happy with the team and what we have, with the options that we have. We understand that we can put ourselves in a difficult position if we do not add one more striker, if one of the striker gets injured between Jermain Defoe and Clint Dempsey.
“But we’ve been in this situation before when Ade was injured and we managed to go through it. It’s difficult but it is not that great an amount of time that we lose Ade for. Of course we lose him for a couple of important games, but I think we are able to cope with it.”
Names such as Seydou Doumbia, Leandro Damiao, Alvaro Negredo and Roberto Soldado have been bandied about, all of which are feasible options and well within the club’s price range and wage bracket, but Daniel Levy’s reticence to spend any sort of sizeable chunk of change in January is well known and the likelihood is that the Portuguese will have to make do with what he has.
Adebayor’s return to the starting line-up in recent weeks alongside Defoe has paid dividends and the club took ten points out of a possible 12 over the hectic festive period, with the Togolese forward bringing a greater degree of balance to the team, with Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale both in lively form on the flanks.
Nevertheless, that Villas-Boas chose to highlight Dempsey as proof that the club had the necessary depth up top to weather this frustrating period was a telling one. Adebayor’s move to overturn his own decision so close to the eve of the tournament shows a lack of professionalism on his part, but the club, and Levy in particular should have been wary of such a situation arising when they set about purchasing the striker from Manchester City in the summer, with the chairman guilty of a lack of foresight and awareness in this instance
Dempsey is by no means a striker, rather charitably bracketed under the term ‘forward’ due to his lack of positional discipline in midfield and consistency in front of goal. Relations between Villas-Boas and Adebayor have appeared tense for months, amid reports of the player’s unrest at a lack of playing time, completely ignoring the fact that he returned to the club halfway through pre-season overweight and clearly unfit after trying to secure himself the transfer fee that Tottenham were going to pay City.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
The one-eyed pursuit of Adebayor has left them short up top for practically the whole season; he has been part of the squad but only in the last six games has he played any sort of role or made any sort of lasting impression, during which Defoe has notably only scored once. A return to the 4-2-3-1 formation could once again bring the best out in the England international, but the wider picture dictates that all will not be well upon his strike partner’s return from South Africa.
The squad has lacked balance at the top end of the pitch since the start of the summer, but Levy, presumably still solely in charge of the club’s transfer policy, will not sanction a move for a new player simply because he plans to miss a month of the season. However, should he pick up an injury while away, the club could come to regret not strengthening from a position of strength in the top four by the end of the campaign. Has too much been made of Adebayor’s departure? Perhaps, but it has helped to shed further light on a notable weakness in this Tottenham squad.
The need for another genuine, out-and-out striker to be added to the club has been required ever since the summer and in the grand scheme of things will not be hastened by the minor inconvenience that is the ACN, but it does present an opportunity to reinvest and the club would be mad to miss it.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is planning a summer clearout, which will likely include the departures of utility men Matteo Darmian and Daley Blind, according to the Manchester Evening News.
What’s the word?
According to the report, Mourinho had already decided to have a summer cull, even before the Champions League aberration at the hands of Sevilla, which drew so much ire from the club’s fans.
That has led some supporters to demand that the former Real Madrid boss is dismissed but the Portuguese’s summer plans show no sign that he might soon be on the move.
Darmian – valued at £10.8m by Transfermarkt – and Blind have hardly featured this season. Other names who could join the pair in leaving the club this summer are Luke Shaw, Andreas Pereira and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
A clearout is just what United need
Under Louis van Gaal, there was a churn of players in and out at Old Trafford and it is fair to say that it didn’t work.
Some of the players brought in – Morgan Schneiderlin, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Memphis Depay – have already left the club while the signs look bleak for Darmian and Blind.
The issue is that the players themselves were not good enough for United and, despite the vast swathes of money spent in recent years, the long and the short of the matter is that Mourinho still doesn’t have a squad that is fit for purpose.
[ad_pod ]
There are also others who could be at risk. Chris Smalling and Phil Jones just haven’t progressed as expected. Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young have performed well at full-back this season but both are the wrong side of 30.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Marouane Fellaini’s contract expires in the summer while question marks remain about how Alexis Sanchez, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial all fit into the same squad.
Some United fans might want to see Mourinho leave the club, but if he is to stay on, then he needs to be able to mould to his will.
The squad is still not good enough and given the demand for instant success at Old Trafford, a summer of ins and outs is the only way Mourinho can go about changing that.
Like it or loathe it, diving has become a major factor in the modern game. Nowadays some of the very best players on the planet are known for their acts of simulation, and although such antics cannot be condoned, they have produced some truly memorable moments.
Inspired by the Ballon d’Or award, here’s the Fallon d’Floor trophy (funny, right?), which ‘celebrates’ the dark arts. The six nominees are…
The Assassination of Giancarlo Gonzalez by the coward Chris Wondolowski
We kick off with a little bit of MLS action here as American striker Wondolowski brutally assaults Gonzalez…
A Fish out of Water
A late contender from Leeds’ Brazilian star, Adryan…
//www.youtube.com/embed/lySps3J5ZVk
No Era Penal
One of the more memorable moments of an excellent World Cup over the summer was this from Arjen Robben.
Breakfast at Chiellini’s
One of the defining moments of 2014… Did his shoulder hurt your incisors, Luis?
Fred-dy got fingered
Another World Cup instalment from Fred, who was more prolific at winning penalties than scoring goals…
Gravity
The list just wouldn’t be complete without a Cristiano Ronaldo effort!
Sir Alex Ferguson has dismissed talks of retirement following his 71st birthday, insisting he hopes to be at Manchester United for “a bit of time” yet, the Telegraph reports.
Ferguson celebrated 26 years in charge at Old Trafford in November, but speculation has continued to mount that this could be his last season, with the likes of former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola, Real Madrid’s Jose Mourinho and Everton’s David Moyes being touted as possible replacements.
However the United chief, who changed his mind on an initial decision to retire in 2002, is adament this won’t be his last season.
“I’m hoping to stay on for a bit of time,” he said. “In terms of football management, I have achieved everything I always wished for.“It’s been a great journey for me but being manager of Manchester United, you have to kick on. You can’t look back. The drive is always on to do better.”Speaking of potential successors to him at United, the Scotsman described the nature of today’s football management as “precarious”, and that many names are linked with the job but you can never be sure that those names are still going to be about when he does finally decided to call it a day and vacate the Old Trafford hot seat.Ferguson’s side currently sit seven points clear at the top of the Premier League following their 4-0 victory at Wigan on New Years Day.
Rangers missed a fantastic opportunity to beat Celtic and kick-start a genuine Scottish Premiership title race in a thrilling derby at Ibrox on Sunday.
Ahead in the game twice and then finding their opponents down to 10 men, Graeme Murty’s side have never had a better chance of beating the reigning Scottish champions in recent years, but squandered glorious opportunities in front of goal and eventually lost 3-2.
The biggest culprit was Alfredo Morelos who missed two second half chances to score a vital third goal of the afternoon, one of which will likely be the miss of the season.
Meeting Josh Windass’ saved shot six yards out with an open net at his disposal, the Colombian somehow managed to hit the post when it was easier to score.
Fans were left fuming with his contribution, the miss so bad that many can’t imagine seeing him play for the club again despite his 17-goal haul this season.
They took to Twitter to share their thoughts in the aftermath…
Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea considered leaving the club after a tough debut season at Old Trafford, Mirror reports.
The Spanish shot-stopper was the hero in Man United’s 2-1 win over Everton last weekend, making three incredible saves plus denying a Leighton Baines penalty to secure three points for his side.
WANT MORE? >> Manchester United Transfer News | Latest Transfer News
De Gea now admits that may be in the form of his lift at the moment, but not long after his £17.8million move from Atletico Madrid, he was tempted in making a return back to Spain after a series of mistakes in his first season.
Prompted whether he wanted to leave Manchester during his tough period, he replied: “Sometimes. I was difficult when you get a lot of criticism like I did.
“But I kept strong and I always tried to remain positive. I loved training. It was a great pleasure so I just did my work and worked through it.
“Those early days were difficult for me and my family. But when you play for a big club like Manchester United it is normal when you don’t play well.
“Yes, I am glad it happened in some ways because the criticism makes you stronger. Goalkeeper is a difficult position and you make mistakes. It is normal. But you have to be strong in your mind to get through it all and get better.
“I think I am playing the best football of my career. I have been here for three years and in the beginning it was difficult. Now I am ready for everything.
“I think that experience at the start at United has helped me be the player and man I am now. When you have bad moments you have to improve. You have to become stronger to deal with it and I believe I have become stronger. I am a much better goalkeeper now.”
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Fill out our survey and win a pair of PUMA EvoPOWER boots as worn by Mario Balotelli, Cesc Fabregas and Marco Reus!
Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world’s leading questionnaire tool.
Sunderland boss Martin O’Neill has likened Robin van Persie’s effect on the Manchester United team to that of Lionel Messi for Barcelona, the Guardian reports.
The praise from O’Neill followed his side’s 3-1 Premier League defeat at Old Trafford on Saturday in which van Persie was influential throughout for the Red Devils, scoring once as well as providing an assist for Wayne Rooney’s goal.
Speaking of the Dutchman’s impact on the United team, the Sunderland boss made reference to the importance of Barcelona maestro Lionel Messi for the Spanish side.
“Would, for instance, Barcelona have the same effect if Lionel Messi didn’t play? The number of goals he has scored is incredible [90 in 2012]. They are a very talented team, but without him, you don’t know because Messi is their talisman.”
Van Persie took his tally to 15 goals in 21 appearances in all competitions so far this season for his new club, following his switch from the Emirates to Old Trafford in August.
“Honestly, he [Van Persie] can get goals out of very little. It looks like nothing is happening, you have players there in the area, but all of a sudden, he has opened up a gap,” O’Neill said.
“Just look at the third goal. We would say we didn’t defend brilliantly, but he would say it was great play, fantastic play, and you always felt that United would give themselves a big edge by getting van Persie.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
United currently sit six points clear of rivals Manchester City at the top of the table, and are now guaranteed to be able to enjoy being leaders of the pack at Christmas.
Manchester City have humbled many teams in the Premier League this season, but Chelsea seemed to bring that process upon themselves on Sunday as Antonio Conte set up his side for a decisively passive performance at the Etihad Stadium, resulting in a 1-0 defeat.
As much as Chelsea’s players were following the instructions of their manager, it was still a disappointing performance from the Blues; Eden Hazard became completely disinterested after the first half an hour, Willian and Pedro failed to make the most of the few opportunities in which they received the ball, the midfield struggled to have any real impact on the game and the backline was largely found wanting as Bernardo Silva drifted in at the far post for the only goal of the afternoon.
But there’s one player who can return to west London with his head held high, and Chelsea fans won’t be too surprised that it’s Cesar Azpilicueta – the Blues’ Mr. Reliable and undoubtedly the most consistent, versatile and dependable defender in the Premier League at this moment in time.
The Spaniard’s most telling contribution came in the form of a goal line clearance to prevent what would have been a sensational goal from Leroy Sane, and that epitomised what was a decent performance from Azpilicueta under difficult circumstances – especially in comparison to many of his exceptionally quiet team-mates.
Indeed, the 28-year-old also won the most tackles of any Chelsea player, made the second-most clearances and blocked the most shots – an impressive three – while completing 92% of his passes, ranking first throughout the Blues’ XI for touches and not committing a single foul.
Despite the scoreline and the lack of intent Chelsea showed in a disappointingly negative performance, Azpilicueta still found a way to have a positive influence on the match.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.